Shifting Into Reverse

After two terms in the state assembly and two in the state senate, Joe Simitian will say goodbye to Sacramento next year, courtesy of California’s term limits. The smart money is betting on a Simitian run for Congress, though Rep. Anna Eshoo will have to stand down first. Rather than take a vacation from public service, Simitian may return to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where he served before turning his attention to California’s distracted-driving problem. (Simitian is the author of the bill that requires drivers to use a headset for telephone calls.) He’d face off against District 5 Supervisor candidates Kathleen King and Margaret Abe-Koga, who may have announced early to build up war chests in advance of a Simitian challenge in the June primary. King is a former mayor of Saratoga. Abe-Koga seems to have a slight advantage in name recognition by currently serving on the Mountain View City Council as well as chairing the county’s VTA board. MAK also served as a trustee for the county board of education. Regardless, the overqualified Simitian could put brakes on their ambitions. If he does run and win, it would be an ironic twist of fate. Simitian would then have to help balance local budgets that were destroyed by policies he helped formulate in the state capitol.

Editor’s Note: The original posting of this article had an incorrect name for Margaret Abe-Koga. The headline for this article has also been changed. San Jose Inside regrets the error.

The Fly is a weekly column written by San Jose Inside staff that provides a behind-the-scenes look at local politics.